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| Korea |
| More results of Iraq! |
| 2004-01-02 |
| SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea has agreed to allow a U.S. delegation to visit its main nuclear complex next week, a South Korean official said Friday. "Oh, brother. Uncle Sam might deal with us next if we don’t cooperate." The trip, first reported Friday by USA Today, would mark the first time outsiders have been allowed to inspect North Korea’s main nuclear facilities at Yongbyon, north of Pyongyang, since the communist country expelled U.N. nuclear monitors in late 2002. USA Today reported that Washington approved the trip and it was scheduled for Jan. 6-10. The newspaper said the U.S. delegation would include Sig Hecker, director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1985 to 1997. The laboratory produced the first U.S. nuclear bomb. "The report is true," an official at the South Korean Foreign Ministry said. "The U.S. side has informed us of the trip." Jason Rebholz, a spokesman of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, said he had no information on the trip and could not comment on the news report. It was unclear how much access to key facilities the North would give to the U.S. experts. U.N. monitors had never had full access to the Yongbyon facilities before they were expelled. An agreement by Washington to send nuclear experts to Yongbyon appears to reflect the Bush administration’s willingness to tackle the North Korean crisis now that Iran and Libya have agreed to intrusive inspections of their nuclear facilities, said Ko Yoo-hwan, a North Korea expert at Seoul’s Dongkuk University. "The trip would give it at least an indirect on-site review of the status of the North Korean nuclear program," Ko said. For weeks, North Korea has said it was boosting its nuclear weapons program, and that it was willing to demonstrate its nuclear capabilities in a "physical" manner. In its New Year’s Day message, however, it reconfirmed that it wants to resolve the dispute peacefully, through six-nation talks with the United States, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea. North Korea’s invitation of U.S. experts could mean that the communist regime wants to prove that it is using plutonium to build bombs, and to increase its leverage at upcoming six-nation talks, Ko said. The South Korean official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the visiting delegation also would include U.S. Senate policy aides. He refused to reveal further details, saying more details will be announced officially in a couple of days. USA Today said the delegation also included a China expert from Stanford University, two Senate foreign policy aides who have previously visited Pyongyang and a former State Department official who has negotiated with North Korea. North Korea is believed to be running a nuclear weapons program at Yongbyon, in the most guarded part of the isolated country. The North says it has completed reprocessing 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods at Yongbyon in a process that can yield enough plutonium for half a dozen atomic bombs. North Korea is believed to already have one or two nuclear bombs. In October, the White House blocked a trip to Yongbyon by a U.S. congressional delegation led by Curt Weldon, vice chairman of the Armed Services Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. North Korea alleged the White House blocked the visit because it was "nervous" about the ramifications of the congressmen confirming "the state of our nuclear activity." The United States is trying to persuade the North to give up its nuclear program in return for aid and better ties with the outside world. North Korea demands that the United States provide it with economic aid and security assurances in return for dismantling its nuclear weapons program. Washington wants Pyongyang to abandon its program first. The nuclear standoff flared in October 2002 when U.S. officials said Pyongyang admitted having a secret nuclear program in violation of a 1994 pact. North Korea has said it is willing to hold a second round of six-nation talks early this year on ending the crisis. The first round ended in August without agreement or a date for a new meeting. Russia, China, South Korea and Japan also are taking part. The first round of talks held in Beijing in August ended without agreement, or a date for new talks. |
| Posted by:Korora |
| #3 Well I doubt NKor is going to show nuclear bombs to the delegation. You can't tell if a bomb-like piece of metal is a real nuke just by looking at it or even by taking rad measurements. |
| Posted by: mhw 2004-1-2 10:03:19 AM |
| #2 In October, the White House blocked a trip to Yongbyon by a U.S. congressional delegation led by Curt Weldon, vice chairman of the Armed Services Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. North Korea alleged the White House blocked the visit because it was "nervous" about the ramifications of the congressmen confirming "the state of our nuclear activity." Actually, we were more concerned about the patent incompetence of a bunch of Congressmen pretending to be nuclear scientists and yelping "WE didn't see anything!" Sh*t, they promise to take MY money away from ME, give it to those who vote for them, and when elected, think that they're bloody rocket scientists... |
| Posted by: Ptah 2004-1-2 9:04:04 AM |
| #1 This isn't necessarily all good. This might be the Norks demonstrating that they have already made X number of bombs and so pay attention to them, or else. |
| Posted by: John Bragg 2004-1-2 8:11:01 AM |